ArticleQualitative health research2024
Rethinking Barriers and Enablers in Qualitative Health Research: Limitations, Alternatives, and Enhancements.
Article in Qualitative health research, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Questions for more insightful and useful analyses of barriers and facilitators to public involvement and engagement in health research: a critical narrative review.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Review
- What influences whether researchers adhere to healthcare reporting guidelines successfully? A thematic synthesis.Research integrity and peer review · 2026Article
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- Evaluating the implementation of integrated knowledge translation in a multi-country research consortium in Sub-Saharan Africa - a mixed methods comparative case study.Implementation science : IS · 2026Article
- A rapid tool for understanding how knowledge users engage with research findings in research-for-development contexts.Health research policy and systems · 2026Article
- Article
- Exploring factors influencing implementation across the explanatory-to-pragmatic trial continuum: a sequential qualitative integration of delivering higher-intensity walking exercise within inpatient stroke rehabilitation.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Social determinants of health influence maternal health behaviors and engagement in an obesity prevention intervention.Translational behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Barriers and Facilitators to the Initiation of Home-Based Exercise Rehabilitation After Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: A TDF-Based Qualitative Study.Patient preference and adherence · 2026Article
- The perceived fit of guided iCBT in specialised mental healthcare services: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals' perspectives.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Barriers: The discursive problematization and transformation of HIV-prevention service provision in England (2016-2020).Social theory & health : STH · 2025Article
- Developing a programme theory of implementing patient-reported outcome measures for older people living with severe frailty: a mixed methods study using the consolidated framework for implementation research.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2025Article
- The Political Determinants of Oral Health Inequalities: Lessons in Policy Development and Implementation From Six Case Studies.Community dentistry and oral epidemiology · 2025Review
- Migrants Living in the United Kingdom and Their Perceptions of Participation in Health Research: A Mixed-Methods Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Using Mixed Methods to Evaluate Risk Minimisation Programs in Europe and the USA: An Innovative Blueprint.Drug safety · 2025Article
- [Reflections on implementing population-based measures for the prevention of non-communicable diseases].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025Article
- Routemap for health impact assessment implementation: scoping review using the consolidated framework for implementation research.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- Are 'hybrid' interventions inherently self-sabotaging?BMJ quality & safety · 2025Article
- "International journal of health policy and management · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Explorations of barriers and enablers (or barriers and facilitators) to a desired health practice, implementation process, or intervention outcome have become so prevalent that they seem to be a default in much health services and public health research. In this article, we argue that decisions to frame research questions or analyses using barriers and enablers (B&Es) should not be default. Contrary to the strengths of qualitative research, the B&Es approach often bypasses critical reflexivity and can lead to shallow research findings with poor understanding of the phenomena of interest. The B&Es approach is untheorised, relying on assumptions of linear, unidirectional processes, universally desirable outcomes, and binary thinking which are at odds with the rich understanding of context and complexity needed to respond to the challenges faced by health services and public health. We encourage researchers to develop research questions using informed deliberation that considers a range of approaches and their implications for producing meaningful knowledge. Alternatives and enhancements to the B&Es approach are explored, including using 'whole package' methodologies; theories, conceptual frameworks, and sensitising ideas; and participatory methods. We also consider ways of advancing existing research on B&Es rather than doing 'more of the same': researchers can usefully investigate how a barrier or enabler works in depth; develop and test implementation strategies for addressing B&Es; or synthesise the B&Es literature to develop a new model or theory. Illustrative examples from the literature are provided. We invite further discussion on this topic.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.